I suppose it all started some six years ago, when Catherine my very BFF (or as Anne of Green Gables would have said: ‘my bosomed friend’), somehow managed to twist my arm to join her in a short-story writing course.
Being a bit hesitant about it (after all, my only ‘literary experience’ included a few stories about an ant who wanted to be a fly, which I wrote when I was seven, and a play I wrote in secondary school). But I decided to ‘bite the bullet’ (or in this case fire up my Microsoft Word) and give it a go.
It was fantastic!!!
First of all, the group of people who also joined the course were amazing, both as budding writers and as critics. And our teacher was funny, witty and creatively challenging. Just what I needed to get started.
Alas, I soon enough realised that short-stories might not be the right size for me, as one early story which I started with the intention of writing no more that 2,500 words, ended up being the first in my YA fantasy quest series of books (but more on that later…).
Another thing I realised then was that I love writing for children of all ages. I suppose it shouldn't come as a massive shock as I still enjoy reading children books till this day.
And so I began my own quest for knowledge in the arts of wordsmithery. It has included a number of writing courses over the years and attending lots of writing / writers conferences, where I even managed to pick up an award at one of them – a big bar of Cadbury’s chocolate for one of my children stories.
Along the way I have met some amazing people and wonderful writers who were going through the same adventure, and learned from them some wise and witty truths. Foremost among them, my writing tutor Jan, who taught me how to ‘show and tell’ a good story.
By the end of it all (not that the learning ever ends), I had finished a collection of books for children of 5 years and up. I have also managed to find a fantastic agent, and we are now working to get my very first début book out (again more on that later).